The assessment of peripheral vascular insufficiency with the doppler flowmeter.

The author presents his experience of the Doppler ultrasound velocity meter in the repetitive serial assessment of patients presenting with chronic obliterative arterial disease. A close relationship between ankle pressure assessed by the Doppler apparatus and isotope muscle clearance studies was established. Pressure flow is directly related to the severity of the vascular occlusion. This fact has been applied in the study of 17 patients with varying degrees of vascular occlusion. The Doppler indices were measured at rest and after ischaemia or exercise. Constant reproducible patterns emerge reflecting gradations of peripheral vascular disorder. Doppler indices correlated well with the patients' exercise tolerance. Flow patterns were demonstrated by plotting the data. Unlike plethysmographic data obtained at rest, the Doppler index at rest was significant. The Doppler ultrasound velocity flowmeter is an effective method for the quantitative assessment during the follow-up of patients presenting with peripheral vascular disorders.